Guardian
by Phoenix Deathrose
Summary: Duo's injured on a mission and is rescued by a mysterious woman. Who is she and why does she know who he is? And what does his Gundam have to do with it?


GUARDIAN by Phoenix Deathrose

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own the boys or their mechs. Spoiler alert for episode Zero but other than that I think we're safe. Enjoy!

He woke up and groaned. He hurt all over. Countless bruises and lacerations covered his small body. Closing his eyes, he leaned back to think over what had happened.

He had been given a mission to destroy a Federation base on the L2 colony. Everything had been going well until out of nowhere a squadron of Leos had popped up and proceeded to beat the crap out of him. Deathscythe had responded well to his piloting but it hadn't been enough. He realized that he had to self-destruct to avoid capture and to complete his mission of destruction. He fingered the control when an electrical surge was carried from the switch into his body. He blacked out.

He remembered vaguely the sensation of someone carrying him out of Deathscythe onto the ground. Someone with soft hands and a firm grip. Opening his eyes again he realized he was wrapped in one of his emergency blankets and a fire was burning nearby. Looking around he saw that he was nowhere near the base and that he was under a canopy of trees. _One of those parks on the other side of the colony_ he thought hazily. Then he saw someone sitting by the fire, gently stoking it to keep it blazing cheerily. At first he believed that she was a hallucination because he thought he saw wings resting lightly on her back. But then he realized that it had to have been shadows because the fire flared and there was nothing there but her.

She looked up and saw that he was awake. She smiled and he believed that he had never seen anything so bright. She rose and lightly treaded to where he was resting. She crouched and touched his cheek. Her hands were comfortingly cool against his flushed face. She frowned slightly and began to rummage through one of Duo's duffel that had been removed from Deathscythe.

He saw in her hand a bottle of Tylenol. He grinned slightly and nodded. He had a killer headache, and that would help immensely. She smiled again and reached for a canteen. She supported his head as he drank and then fed him the tablets. He sighed and she gently lowered him back to the ground.

With her so close, Duo could see her features more clearly. She was about his height, with dark black hair that looked like a long shadow, and bright green eyes. There was something about her that reminded him of someone or something, but he couldn't think what. He didn't want to think just then, his head hurt too much. She noticed his eyes on her and she smiled again.

"Sleep, Duo," she whispered.

Her voice was like a vocalization of darkness, soft, velvety, and beautiful. He smiled and silently agreed. His eyes slowly closed and his breathing evened out. Just before he entered sleep he realized he didn't know who she was. Was she an enemy or an ally? He struggled to awaken but his battered body had other ideas. He sighed mentally and decided he would figure everything out in the morning.

The artificial sun of the colony rose and struck Duo's eyes. He woke from his sleep feeling definitely better than he did last night. He heard voices and decided to get up. He tried to sit up and an involuntary groan came out of his throat. The voices stopped and footsteps moved towards him. Duo almost started to panic; he was unarmed and defenseless against whoever was coming. What if it was OZ?

The figure came into sight and he nearly fell over with relief. It was Quatre. The blonde pilot hurried over to Duo's side when he realized his partner was awake.

"How are you feeling?"

"Other than like I was trampled by a herd of elephants? Fine."

Quatre grinned and helped Duo get up. Although a bit shaky on his feet, he was able to walk unaided. He then saw the other pilots. Wufei, Trowa, and Heero were all there. He grinned weakly and tottered to where they were sitting. Lowering himself, he slipped and fell hard on his rear.

"Itai!"

Rubbing his posterior ruefully he looked around. His expression was so questioning that Quatre asked, "What's up, Duo? You seem to be looking for something."

"Did you guys see a girl around here?"

The others looked surprised.

"We only got here a few hours ago, Duo," replied Trowa. "We saw no one else."

"I was surprised that you were able to lower yourself from Deathscythe by yourself, in the condition you were in," said Wufei. "And bring down your duffel, start a fire, and camouflage your Gundam."

At this, Duo spun around where he sat and stared. Sure enough, Deathscythe was camouflaged and his duffel was on the ground next to where he had been lying. He hadn't done that. Someone else had to have. He must have looked as shocked as he felt because Heero spoke up.

"Did someone see you?"

"I…I don't know."

"What do you remember?" Quatre asked gently.

Duo thought a moment, scratching his head. His thoughts raced as he tried to recall the night before. Then a question popped into his head.

"How did you guys find me?"

Wufei looked amazed, "You sent out a distress signal from your Gundam, Maxwell. You sent it out on our secure channel at about three in the morning. Don't you remember?"

"I didn't send any message. I remember attacking the base and a bunch of Leos popped up out of nowhere. They surrounded me and I had no way to get out. I realized I had no choice but to self-destruct. I pushed the button, but instead of exploding, this huge electrical surge came through my control panel. I must have blacked out because the next thing I remember is being lifted out of Deathscythe and being placed on the ground. Whoever took me out also brought out my duffel. But how could they? No one knows where I keep my stuff in there except for me. And I _know_ I didn't do it.

"That's why I asked about a girl. I remember a girl sitting by the fire. I was wrapped in my blanket and she came over to check on me. She gave me two Tylenol out of my duffel and then told me to sleep." He paused and looked up in alarm. "She knew my name."

Everyone became very uncomfortable at that statement. Trowa spoke up.  
"What did she look like? Did she tell you her name?"

Duo shook his head, "No, she didn't tell me her name. I remember she had long black hair, almost as long as mine, and she had green eyes. I felt like I knew her from somewhere, but I don't know how I could have. I've never seen anyone like her before."

Quatre cleared his throat, "What else do you remember about last night? Anything could be helpful to figure this out."

Duo nodded and began to think again, "I fell asleep again shortly after she gave me the pills and the next thing I knew, you guys were here."

The silence drew out for a few minutes before Heero got to his feet. He looked at the others with his piercing eyes and motioned for them to get up, too.

"We should probably get out of here, and back to the safe house. Then Duo can get his mission report to the doctors."

"What mission report?" Duo retorted, "I didn't succeed. I blacked out before I could finish."

Once again everyone stared at him blankly.

"But, Duo, you did finish your mission," Quatre insisted. "The base was completely destroyed."  
Duo's jaw dropped, but no words came out of his mouth.

When they reached their safe house, the other pilots insisted that Duo be tested for a concussion. They thought it strange that he couldn't remember finishing his mission. Duo, on the other hand, felt that something or someone else finished it when he was unconscious. But who, or what?

His thoughts kept drifting back to the woman. Who was she? What did she know about the Gundams and the pilots? Would he have to find her and silence her? Was she from OZ? Finally, he couldn't stand the questions anymore. For some solace he went out to the hanger to spend time with Deathscythe.

Climbing up to the cockpit, he started fiddling with wires here and there. This helped him clear his head of all the unanswerable questions. Then the thought hit him, what about the onboard cameras?

All the Gundams were equipped with cameras all over the surface and in the cockpit to be able to fight with maximum efficiency. This way they could see every angle in a battle and could communicate with each other. Maybe he could get some information from the film. Grabbing the disk he left the hanger and went to his room.

He slipped the disk into his computer and pressed play. He began to watch the battle after he had lost consciousness. Somehow Deathscythe kept moving, without his hands at the controls. Deathscythe had finished the mission!

As he was still computing this information in his head, he watched the Gundam fly away from the wreckage towards a wood. The mecha touched down and a woman appeared in the corner of the screen. She seemed to just materialize out of thin air.

There seemed to be a sort of aura around her. Suddenly Duo had to blink, and then press rewind. Stopping the disk and pressing play, he saw it again. Wings! He hadn't been hallucinating.

He watched her manually open the cockpit door and pull his limp body out of the seat. She then jumped lightly to the ground, even though it was over fifty feet below. She arranged him on the ground and JUMPED back up to the cockpit to get his duffel. She went straight to it. How did she know where it was?

Wrapping him in the blanket she tucked him in snugly. Somehow it reminded him of a mother tucking in her child. She even brushed his bangs aside and kissed him on the forehead. Then she pulled out the camouflage nets from their compartment. Right before the nets covered the camera she winked directly at it and blew it a kiss. How could she know where the camera was? Then he couldn't see anything else.

Pressing stop, he frowned. The disk had brought up more questions than answers. Shaking his head, he headed down the hallway back towards the hanger. As he reached the door he heard voices inside. Stopping beside the door he decided to listen in on the conversation. What he heard made his eyes widen. It was the same velvety voice from that night.

"Just because you've been blown up countless times doesn't mean that I relish the idea. I had no assurance that he wouldn't die. I know that you don't care about Heero, but Duo is everything to me."

The voice was answered by a dry husky voice.

"This is no time to get emotional."

"Emotional! That's all you can say? Don't get emotional? Well you can take the emotions and stick them where the sun don't shine for all I care. Duo is alive, the mission was completed, and the others didn't see me. Is that enough to make you happy?"

"I would be even happier if the boy hadn't seen you."  
"I had no control over that. He woke up before I thought he would."

"What were you doing out? You had already taken care of him. Why didn't you return to…"

The woman's voice cut in.

"To my prison? I enjoy the time outside, even if you don't. Besides, I wanted to make sure he was okay. Concussions are bad business you know. Anyway, why are you getting after me? Sand and Dragon have taken care of theirs before."

"Because those boys are of some significance."

"SIGNIFICANCE?" the voice sputtered in rage. "Duo is of significance. Maybe not to the world, or even the colonies, but he is my universe. Besides, you know I'm not the only one with any interest in him." A pause, and a sigh. "I know you can't possibly understand, but if he died I would have no reason to continue to exist."

"You would continue to exist so the Doctors could find a new pilot."

"No. I would self-destruct before that could happen. So you know what? Go screw yourself." The voice sighed again. "I'm going to take a nap now."

With that, the conversation seemed to end. Duo peeked around the doorway to see the hanger completely empty. Looking around in shock he couldn't believe that anyone could have exited that quickly. He checked all the exits. Yes, they were still sealed. Who had he heard talking?

He went over to Deathscythe to replace the disk. What he didn't see was the mecha's eyes flare green for a second, with their own light. Duo opened the cockpit and sat down in the chair. Running a system check, he mused over his last mission. How could Deathscythe have possibly finished the mission by itself?

As he sat thinking a silent shadow moved toward where he was. He didn't notice anything until the shape appeared on the edge of his cockpit platform.

"Holy shit!"

He jumped out of the chair, gun drawn. He found its barrel resting on the forehead of a girl his own age. Her green eyes blazed with inner humor. A wry grin rested on her lips. He swallowed convulsively as he realized this was his mystery-winged woman.

"Who are you?"

"I'd be glad to tell you anything as soon as you put your toy away."

He nodded and put the gun back into its holster. He sat heavily in the pilot's chair as she delicately lowered herself on the platform. She smiled at him, the same smile she had had on that night he saw her for the first time.

"How would you like me to begin, Duo?"

"First you can tell me how you know my name."

"I'd love to tell you, but I'm afraid you wouldn't believe me. My name is Shi."

"I saw you with wings. Both on that night, and in the video."

"Yes. You see, I guess you could call me a sort of demon. Not the bad kind, just your general type. Angels have white-feathered wings, demons have black feathers. I don't know why, that's just the way it is."

"Who were you talking to a few minutes ago?"

She looked alarmed, and glanced over to the mecha standing by Deathscythe. It was Wing.

"You heard us? Ooh, he's not going to like that."

At that moment Heero walked into the hanger. Seeing the stranger, he pulled his gun out with lightning speed and fired. Duo started at the discharge of the gun. He then realized what the bullet would hit.

"NO!"

Shi reeled where she sat and fell over the edge of the platform. Duo watched in horror as she released her wings from their confinement in an attempt to slow her fall. It didn't work, and she merely landed on them as she hit the ground. She lay in a puddle of blood and black feathers.

Duo quickly climbed down and cradled her head. Shi looked up and smiled tightly, her pain showing in her face.

"Don't worry. Just take one of my feathers and place it over the wound."

Confused, Duo did what she said and stared in amazement as a violet light blazed. When the light faded, it was as if there had never been a wound. Heero, by this time, was by their side with his gun trained on her prone form. Even the Perfect Soldier seemed faintly shaken by this. The girl took this in and grinned, now no longer in pain or any discomfort at all.

"I'm a guardian. Each of the Gundams has their own guardian spirit. I'm pretty sure you can guess which one I am."

Both of the boys stared in mute amazement as she stood and extended her ebony wings. After being assured that they were fine, she folded them back and they disappeared.

"Where did they go?" Duo asked.

"I'm not really sure. It's just something that always happens. When I don't need them anymore, my body absorbs them. Weird, huh?"

At that moment the three other pilots rushed into the hanger, responding to the gunshot that they had heard.

"Is everything alright?" the blonde boy asked. He then stood slack jawed as he saw Shi. She waved cheekily at him and smiled.

"Everything's fine."

Four flashes of light simultaneously erupted, causing the hanger to brighten. Shi slouched guiltily.

"Uh oh."

Duo looked at her questioningly, "What?"

She didn't have to answer as he saw them emerging from the other mechas. A dark haired angel dressed in armor emerged from Wing Zero, a desert nomad from Sandrock, a boy soldier from Heavyarms and a woman dressed in traditional Chinese garb from Altron.

The nomad spoke first, a soft feminine tone.

"Shi. You've just broken every rule in the book."

She hung her head, "I know."

After a long silence with glares directed at Shi, Wufei spoke up.

"First of all, what are all these weak women doing in here, and second, who are all of you?"

At the comment, the Chinese woman stepped forward.

"Chang Wufei, if you call a woman weak' one more time in my hearing, I will personally kick your butt."

He turned angrily to her and then stopped short in his tracks.

"Nataku? Meiran?"

Her look became softer and she smiled as she extended her arms to him.

"Husband."

He crossed to her and embraced her, tears slowly falling down his cheeks.

"How?"

"When I died, I was given a choice. Either join our ancestors, or become your guardian. I chose you. I realized that I had misjudged you when I was still alive, so I wanted to atone for my cruel comments and jokes by helping you in your quest for justice. I was honored that you decided to call me Nataku'."

"There was nothing to atone for. I honor you, and I thank you for being there all those times...my wife."

The others looked on as this reunion took place. Then they turned to their own guardians.

Trowa had to look twice before he believed whom it was that stood before him. He didn't need a photograph to realize that this boy had his face. He looked down at the child until the boy spoke.

"Trowa. I'm glad you picked a name. It's lonely to go around without one."

The tall banged pilot fixed the child with his emerald eyes.

"What is your name?"

The adolescent shrugged.

"I don't have a name. If you must call me something, call me Nanashi."

Trowa shivered inwardly as his heard this boy with his face saying the phrase he had said so many times as a child himself. The boy studied him critically.

"I am your own spirit. Your years as a mercenary created me to protect you in battle. You never saw me, but I was always there. Now, I am your Gundam's guardian spirit. Are you disappointed?"

Trowa shook his head and knelt down before this vision of his past. Hesitatingly, he spread his arms and the boy slowly walked towards him. Even though he had a strong feeling that he was hugging himself, he took the child in his arms.

Quatre advanced towards the nomad as his lover confronted his guardian. As he neared the cloaked figure, the head wrap was thrown back and he saw something that made his heart stop. His guardian had the face of his namesake. Quaterina. His mother.

Tears formed in his sky blue eyes and he took another hesitating step towards her.

"Mother?"

The woman took him into her loving arms and she soothed him, stroking his hair, as he cried into her shoulder.

"Shh, there, there my little one. It's all right. I was given an option as well, at my death. My little namesake. Of course I would watch over you. I love you."

The blonde Arab looked up into eyes that were brimming with pride.

"But, you died because of me. I killed you when you gave birth to me."

She shook her head.

"No, my body wasn't able to handle childbirth, but you did not kill me. It was my choice to have you and I'm so glad that I did. Look at what you've become. You're so strong, and you use that strength to protect others. I'm so proud."

Heero eyed his guardian with calculating eyes. The angel did the same, holding his sword loosely in his hand. Neither said anything for several long minutes until the Japanese boy broke the silence.

"Who are you?"

"I'm your guardian spirit, of course. Surely you figured that one out on your own."

"That's not what I mean. All the others have some kind of connection with their spirits. What connection have you with me?"

The angel thought for a moment before answering.

"I am the avenging spirit in yourself. You crave the ability to fight for those you inadvertently killed all those years ago. You've never forgotten the little girl and her puppy. You've never forgotten what it's like to kill innocents. You have worked so hard to make sure that you don't do that again. And when someone tricks you into killing guiltless bystanders, I am the force that comes through to exact justice. At any other time, I am the one who watches over you on your missions."

"Have you been protecting me?"

"No. You have never needed protection. Your body and mind are well equipped to protect you better than I."

"Than why are you here?"

"Your subconscious created me, Heero. You tell me why I'm here."

The Perfect Soldier looked inward for a moment, his eyes unfocused. Then he looked towards his Guardian, speaking in a barely audible whisper.

"You give me strength when I feel that I can't go on. When I kill innocents I want to die myself. You take over to make me survive and avenge their deaths."

The angel nodded, smiling slightly. The two walked together until they were barely a hands width apart and then they stood, side by side, in comfortable silence.

Duo watched all this with wide eyes. They all knew their Guardians, having some tie to them. Each time a smile appeared on his comrade's faces, or a hug was shared between lost loved ones, he winced inside. The pain of his long loneliness was rising fast within him and he wasn't sure how long he could hold his smile in place.

"Duo?"

The tentative voice brought him out of his reverie and he turned towards its source.

"Shi?"

"You want to know why, don't you? Why all the others know theirs but you don't know me. Right?"

He nodded slightly; embarrassed that she'd read him so easily.

"It's alright. I'd be surprised if you did know me. I've been with you so long that sometimes it feels I've been with you forever. Don't get me wrong, that's a good thing."

"You've been with me? When? How?"

She grinned, and then it faded.

"So many questions. I've been by your side ever since the Maxwell Massacre. When you proclaimed yourself as Shinigami, it caught the interest of some higher ups. They like you and wanted you to live, so They sent me."

"They? Who are they?"

"The higher ups, the Gods."

The boy swallowed hard.

"The Gods?"

"Yep. I work for the one that you claim to be. When you started calling yourself the God of Death, He took interest in your life. That's a great compliment from one who makes His living off the dead. No pun intended."

Duo shook his head in shock.

"You mean _THE_ Shinigami sent you to watch over me?"

"Uh-huh. Lately, though, you haven't needed much watching over. Just every now and then you try something stupid like self-destruction. I'm sure you've noticed that self-destructing just doesn't work for you? First of all, I'm to make sure that you don't kill yourself. Secondly, do you have any idea how much self-destructing hurts? Damn!"

She winced at the memory of being destroyed at the hands of OZ. The pilot chuckled at her expression and shrugged.

"How could I know, you've never let me before."

Shi punched him in the arm playfully.

"Just for that, I just might let you next time."

They punched at each other for a few more seconds, and then found themselves in a tight embrace. Him holding her like a lifeline, and she stroking his hair, whispering comfort into his ear.

The five pilots stood in the hanger, each looking up at his respective mecha. The blonde spoke first.

"Did that really happen?"

A chuckle from his longhaired comrade caught his attention. The Arab's eyes widened as he saw what his friend had in his hands.

"Yeah, Quat. That really happened."

He tucked the long black feather behind his ear and turned to walk into the safe house. He looked back over his shoulder.

"You all coming? I'm starved!"

The others fell in behind him, striding through the hanger door. Heero, the last through, paused, looking back. The five colossal machines stood like sentinels in the building. Then, borne on an unfelt wind, a single white feather drifted to his feet. He bent and retrieved it. His Prussian blue eyes filled with wonder as he ran his fingers along the ridge. A small smile lifted his lips and he turned back through the doors, and closed them behind him.

In the now dark hanger, five bursts of light erupted. On the shoulders of the Gundams, a figure sat. Each had an identical smirk, and they all looked at each other with bright eyes. Shi spoke first.

"Well, I think that was a very good use of broken rules, don't you?"

Quaterina nodded happily as Meiran giggled, Nanashi inclined his head cheerfully as the angel's smirk grew into a full smile. He spoke in a bemused voice.

"I think things will be much more interesting from now on."

Meiran exhaled slowly and flashed a toothy smile.

"Oh, yeah. Much more interesting."

All five turned simultaneously and looked at the closed doors that lead to the house, and five flashes lit up the building. In the darkness five gigantic machines stood watch over the fragile peace of a still night on Earth.


End file.
